A HISTORY OF STAFFORDSHIRE 



formations known to exist in the Midlands beneath the Trias. Diver- 

 gent as these views appear, they probably all contain an element of 

 truth, for not from one but from many areas should the pebbles be derived if 

 they were laid down under continental conditions. 1 



The strata are almost wholly unfossiliferous. In other parts of 

 England the presence of Labyrinthodonts has been detected, but then 

 only rarely, and consisting chiefly of footprints. The spongy nature of the 

 sandstone and shingle beds renders the sub-division an almost unlimited 

 reservoir of underground water, admirably suited for drinking pur- 

 poses. The pebble beds are thus the source from which the chief towns 

 of Staffordshire obtain their water supply. The strong springs, issuing 

 from the rocks along lines of faults and major joints, or at their junction 

 with the less pervious Carboniferous strata, help in no small degree to 

 keep the streams and rivers from running dry during the summer months. 

 The springs at Wall Grange pouring out over 2,000,000 gallons daily, 

 supplied to the Potteries, are a case in point ; the Tern river also issues 

 from the spring-fed lake at Maer Hall as a stream of no inconsiderable 

 size. In other respects the Pebble Beds, beyond yielding road-metal for 

 second class roads, possess little commercial importance. 



Upper Mottled Sandstone. This sub-division of vermilion-coloured 

 non-pebbly sandstone, closely resembling the lower sub-division, follows 

 conformably and runs parallel with the outcrop of the Pebble Beds to the 

 west of the southern coalfield, but is hardly separable from them and not 

 always present in North Staffordshire. One of the best sections in the 

 Midlands is opened out in the road cutting at Tettenhall to the west of 

 Wolverhampton. Flanked by the Pebble Beds and overlain by the hard 

 Keuper basement beds the Upper Mottled Sandstone usually occupies low 

 lying tracts overlooked by the inferior and superior sub-divisions of the 

 Trias. Some of the most beautiful country lanes have been cut deep into 

 these soft red sandstones, whose bright red colours so strikingly contrast 

 with the delicate greens of lichen, moss and fern which cling to their 

 damp crumbling surfaces. 



The soft incoherent nature of the stone renders it a favourite source 

 of building sand, while the more loamy varieties yield good foundry and 

 moulding sand, and are extensively quarried at Baldwins Gate near Maer 

 for the Crewe Engineering Works. 



KEUPER PERIOD 



Keuper Basement Beds and Waterstones. During the whole of the 

 Bunter period the elevatory forces were going on or were only temporarily 

 stationary : in the succeeding Keuper period the successive overlaps of 

 the individual members point to a cessation of any upward movements, 

 while towards its close the Triassic continent began to slowly sink until 

 it became finally submerged beneath the seas which were to hold sway 

 during the whole of Mesozoic times. 



1 T. G. Bonney, Geol. Mag. Dec. n, vii. 404 (1880), ibid. Dec. 4, ii. 75 (1895); W. J. 

 Harrison, Proc. Birm. Phil. Soc. vol. iii. (1881-3). 



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